Take Two

What happens when you introduce a knife-edge 997S to the 997 GT3, Porsche’s hard-core handling benchmark?

Story by Pete Stout Photos by Bob Chapman

April 1, 2009

So Jared Cullop’s tuned 997S beat a tuned Cayman S and Turbo. But how will it measure up against the factory’s own hard-core 997, the GT3, on torturous California roads? The GT3 is the 997 Jared would have bought had it been available, and many will say it’s the car that he should have waited for.

Fortunately, we’ve got one handy, as reader Ralph Jackson drives his Arctic Sil­ver GT3 up here regularly and enthusiastically. (Over 27,000 miles, he’s averaged 3,100 miles per pair of rear tires!) His car has three mild tricks up its sleeve: a Shark­werks exhaust bypass, lightweight HRE 19-inch wheels, and a custom alignment.

We can’t say the bypass offers a noticeable power benefit, but, aurally, it takes the GT3 from Best Factory 911 Noise Ever to an otherworldly song. Mean­while, the revised alignment results in a similarly sharp but noticeably more planted chassis — reassuring grip is added at the rear without inducing too much understeer. Down coastal back roads, this car’s mix of speed, sensations, and driver involvement is deeply seductive.

What sticks out immediately after driving Jared’s 997S? With an 8400-rpm redline, the normally-aspirated GT3 3.6 gives you another 1100 rpm to play with between corners. It’s a ridiculously sweet engine, one that loves to rev but also offers plentiful torque across the tach. Combine the sonorous, free-revving flat six with a competent chassis and fantastic brakes and the result is, as Bob Chap­man puts it, “quiet, confident competence.”

The tuned 997S is quite a bit edgier than the GT3. First, there’s the soundtrack. While we won’t say the S sounds better than the GT3, it’s far louder; ironically, it also sounds more like a GT3 Cup. Then there’s the low-end torque. The blown 3.8 has a serious advantage here and catapults you out of turns harder, sooner. That allows more precise, more predictable adjustments on throttle. It’s more fun, too. With more accessible torque, you don’t have to shift as often, despite the lower redline. When you do change gears, the 997S’s short-shifter and clutch are just as precise and positive as the GT3’s, but they require less effort. It leaves us wondering why the GT3’s shifter and clutch pedal are so stiff.

If the 997S gets the nod on power we’ll call braking a wash, though we might feel differently had this 997 GT3 had Porsche’s optional ceramic-composite PCCB brakes.

Damping, however, is an area where high tech hasn’t helped the GT3. We’ve been critical of its electronically variable PASM dampers since day one, and the black car’s expertly tuned Motons remind us why. Despite PASM’s electronic trickery and marketing appeal, the Motons demonstrate the appeal of top-quality, old-tech dam­pers. Despite its stiffer, track-oriented setup, the 997S is still comfortable enough around town and is less jiggly than the GT3. It offers superior wheel control on rougher sections of our test loop, too — a critical point, because tires that follow the road surface better yield more traction and, with it, greater confidence.